Review your Medicare plan and the medications you currently take between Oct. 1 and Dec. 7 (Annual Enrollment Period).

By Cheri Brown

Cheri Brown

In these days of inflation, it is imperative to control your spending while ensuring you get the products you need to have a healthy life. Lowering your prescription drug costs is one way to do that.

Recently a Medicare client came to me with an issue. He was taking sildenafil (generic Viagra) daily and his insurance company only covered six pills a month. He could have asked his primary care doctor to request an exception, but this would have taken time and his copays would have been higher. Instead I helped him research his options.

There are three websites I use to help friends, family and clients lower their prescription drug costs: GoodRX.com, Costco.com and LowCostDrugs.com. GoodRx is a no-cost membership-based plan, you register online, or pick-up one of their cards at a local pharmacy. Costco is a member store but you do not have to be a member to purchase prescription drugs from them. Mark Cuban, billionaire entrepreneur, decided too many Americans were suffering because they did not have access to low-cost drugs. He started Low Cost Drugs with a simple philosophy: negotiate the best prices, add 15 percent markup, a prescription filling fee and mail costs.

After checking the three sites, the lowest cost at that time was with Costco (the lowest cost today is with LowCostDrugs.com). My client called his doctor’s office, asked them to move his prescription and was able to purchase his medication at a very reasonable price. He does not use his insurance when paying for the medication.

A friend recently contacted me because her medication costs had skyrocketed in January. She isn’t on Medicare. Her insurer is the largest HMO in California (whose name starts with K). She has a large deductible for her prescription drugs and takes bupropion (generic for Wellbutrin). Her costs for a 90-day supply jumped from $30 in 2021 to more than $350 in 2022! At that time, GoodRx had the best price through Safeway, so she called Safeway and transferred her prescription (today’s lowest cost is LowCostDrugs.com).

Whether you are covered by a Medicare Prescription Drug plan, a commercial insurance plan or have no insurance coverage, you may be able to save money by researching your options. If you have Medicare, you should review your plan and the medications you currently take between Oct. 1 and Dec. 7 (Annual Enrollment Period). Every year Medicare Advantage Part D plans and stand-alone Prescription Drug plans may change. You should ensure you are on the plan that covers your medications appropriately.

Cheri Brown is a licensed insurance agent with decades of experience. She is appointed with 10 insurance companies to represent their Medicare plans. She can be contacted at (408) 476-0034, [email protected] and through her website www.cheri-brown.com.